IIDS, GD: Sunday, August 12th

Moral certainty is always a sign of cultural inferiority. The more uncivilized the man, the surer he is that he knows precisely what is right and what is wrong. All human progress, even in morals, has been the work of men who have doubted the current moral values, not of men who have whooped them up and tried to enforce them. The truly civilized man is always skeptical and tolerant, in this field as in all others. His culture is based on "I am not too sure." -H.L. Mencken, writer, editor, and critic (1880-1956) 

let's all get together on tuesday, the 14th @ our place. this would include you, me, travis?, sally & corinne.

we have it all planned.

this might help to inform your choice of wine but it's all greek to us & sally reminds me to hold off on the ouzo:

pork souvlaki

lemon roasted potatoes

sally's famous greek salad.

baklava?

see you both when you get here. f.

Yassou Wildwood Park Taverna!

Yo Zorba!

Sounds like a fab menu indeed but where is the pickled octopus? We can put the ouzo in a sports water bottle and simply claim that were are re-hydrating in case The Sisterhood, suspicious of our every move, inquires!

Thanks for lovely invitation. We'll probably try to come after 5:00pm. Not quite sure what our first day in Winnipeg holds but we'll call if we can't get to your place by 6:00pm. Kalinihta from The Falcon Lake Fontainebleau!

 Wonderful shots...great to see everyone looking well! The boys came with me to a philipino bbq last night to.celebrate a friends graduation from ucla...its been around 105 degrees here lately Love to all!

 Hi again, Tinsel Town et al!

Scullions preparing breakfast this morning. Dusty did fabulous hot Italian and honey garlic sausages on the bbq, bacon, (American not Canadian back), scrambled eggs with cherry tomatoes and buttermilk pancakes with fresh blueberries/maple syrup by the grumpy kitchen help! Cheers, Patrizzio, Cyclist Extraordinaire, Award winning Photogtapher, Reviled Scribe and Misunderstood Father/Husband!

Language is the amber in which a thousand precious and subtle thoughts have been safely embedded and preserved. -Richard C. Trench, poet (1807-1886)

The Three Babeateers!

We used to dream about honey garlic sausages!

Took the boys to brunch...but they would have preffered grandpa soups pancakes! (preferred, Soup's)

Corrections from The Falcon Lake Fontainebleau!

Hi Tinsel Town!

I used to dream that both my daughters would spell correctly and use proper grammatical constructions:  "preferred" not "preffered", "Soup's" not "soups". Sigh! Alack and alas! Homework: One hundred lines on the blackboard: "I will not misspell. I will not forget to use an apostrophe." From the Grammar Polizei, Falcon Beach Detachment!

PS: Menu at Wildwood Park, this coming Tuesday, with Sally and Filmer: (see above)

Hi Patrick

Long time no hear - do hope you and family are all okay and have enjoyed your amazing travels.

I was dreading the Olympics but it has turned out to be a wonderful few weeks and we can look forward to the paras soon.  Lisa, Anna, Leon, Max and I are going to the paras on 8th September, the penultimate day.

I am off to Norway on 25th Aug and back 3rd Sept so will catch up very soon.

Love to all Penny xx

Hello Darling Penelope! How lovely to hear from you! Delighted that all went so well with the Olympics, both from your point of view as well as for London. In fact, have been thinking about you for last little while, given that we have been watching the coverage here. Norway sounds terrific. Hope to visit there as well. Will get all the tips from you!

We will drive into Winnipeg this coming Tuesday, the 14th, to visit with other friends and family before coming back out to Falcon for the weekend. Our date of departure for Vancouver has not been set but I assume we will be in Enderby around the 22nd/23rd/24th. Will know by the beginning of next weekend. We will be staying with Lynn/Barb, friends we met in Mexico on last trip there. Then on to Naramata to stay with friends, Lynne and Peter, to do some wine tasting. Hope to pick up a case or two of the fabulous whites that are being produced in the Okanagan.

Buona Fortuna on your Norwegian junket. Fond regards from Cora Lee to Mad Max, Lisa, Anna and Leon. We enjoyed a number of events at the 2102 Winter Para-Olympics, particularly curling and sledge hockey. Latter was incredible exciting! Cheers, Patrizzio!

In the airport in Kelowna. Flight departs in 30 minutes to Ottawa until Wednesday. Been talking to David and looking forward to our arrival in the bay area. Wayne 

Hi Sarge!

Trust you are comfortably ensconced in your hotel room in Ottawa. Any chance you will have an opportunity to cycle along the Rideau Canal or into Gatineau Park. Some wonderful, paved trails there.

Am very, very pleased with my ride today. Didn't start until about 1:30pm as that was when Cora Lee's cousin, James, and his family left. Quite overcast with threat of rain but I decided to head out to Rennie River anyway. Had 13K on the odometre by the time I'd passed turnoff to West Hawk and then the sign for Rennie, 32K, so I knew I 'd have to cycle through the town for at least another 5K, once there. I'd decided I'd try for 100K since I didn't have a time limit. Dinner was to be "overlefts" whenever anyone was hungry. No other visitors or family around so I was "free"!

Only drag was the the truly stiff head wind which I literally had to battle all the way to Rennie. To make matters worse, at about the 25K mark, the black cloud above me opened up and I was drenched in a matter of minutes. I was of two minds about continuing but after downpour stopped I didn't feel too bad and my shirt started to dry out in the breeze. Putting my head down I gritted my teeth and kept at it, counting off each 5K as I rewarded myself with a sip from my camel pack as each such increment. Before I knew it, I was close to Rennie and almost completely dry, except for my clip-ons which remained quite "squishy" for rest of ride. Highway out of Rennie, towards Beausejour, has a fairly smooth surface so it didn't take long to clock my "extra" 5K. 

At the 50.5K mark I turned around and made for home, shouting for joy now that the wind was my ally, pushing me along between 27K-33K on the flats. At times I would "race" against the clock, trying to up my average speed and drop my time for a given distance. I tried to follow this pattern but could only keep up such "time trials" sporadically as my legs simply would not allow uninterrupted, sustained pushes. Still, I was pleased that I had raised my average speed from 19.1kph for most of the wind assault to between 21.3-21.9kpr once I was back through Rennie.

Felt pretty good and thought that I might actually try for 120K, given that the return is a bit easier, in terms of grade, certainly in terms of wind resistance. Was zipping along, congratulating myself just past turn-off to Ingolf and headed for Penniac Bay. On the reasonably steep hill before the marina there, once again, the heavens opened and the resulting downpour was even heavier than earlier one. By this time I was determined to log the distance I had set for myself so forges on past turn-off to Falcon and made for West Hawk. 

By the time I reached the #1 TC loop, it had stopped pelting so I completed three circuits, (passing a lone deer on the second one), before making for Falcon. Had 101K on the clock by the time I passed the road sign for Star Lake/Falcon so I knew I had 113K in the bag if I didn't collapse beforehand! Again, my legs felt pretty good and I think that the soaking actually helped keep me relatively cool. The air temperature was very comfortable s aside from the squelching of my shoes, I felt terrific.

By the time I reached Faloma, the wind had changed, (What else is new?), and so on the relative straightaway from there to Falcon I was back in the hurricane. To make matters a tad worse, I received the third thorough soaking on this stretch, all the way down the stretch which runs parallel to the highway to the exit into Falcon. However, by this time, the thought of making my best distance to date spurred me on and I decided to go for 125K. Took a short loop around Falcon town site to have 116K on the odometre by the time I passed Fairview Crescent. I knew I had to go a bit past the South Shore beach so realized that the end was in sight. 

Shortly after Lumber One, the skies started to clear and brighten and the remainder of the ride was quite pleasant, everything washed incredibly clean by the deluge. Once past the beach I turned around and "raced" back home. Looking at my odometre at 116K I knew my average speed was now 23.1kph and I was determined to keep it there. Bit of wind resistance as I came down the last stretch but nothing compared to what I'd been through and I pulled in the driveway shortley after 7:00pm. Stats are as follows: AVG 23.1kph over 127.3K at a time of 5:30:42 with a MAX 60.6kph achieved on the outward bound leg, down the hill leading to Faloma. What is most exciting for me is the time for the ride. On my hybrid, 100K+-, has taken me between 5-6hours. If I can log such distances, the Grand Fondo, at least in Penticton, would seem a good possibility.

Had a banana and a magnesium pill shortly after showering so I hope my legs don't seize up tonight. You'll know if they do as I'm sure you'll hear my howls of pain in Ottawa! Cheers, Patrizzio! 

Hi Men of Leisure!

Trust you are comfortably ensconced in your armchairs! Any chance you will have an opportunity to cycle along Spanish Banks, stopping for lattes at all the kiosks there?


Hi Kjell!

Trust you are well. Must say that I am very, very pleased with my ride today so thought I'd share my excitement with a fellow cyclist!